Tumblr Tuesdays: May 15
- Antwerp
- Auckland
- Austin
- Australia
- Berlin
- Boston
- Boulder
- Chicago
- Copenhagen
- DC
- Detroit
- Dublin
- Elsewhere
- Glasgow
- Hamburg
- Japan
- London
- Los Angeles
- Melbourne
- Mexico
- Miami
- Minneapolis
- Montreal
- New York
- Oslo
- Paris
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
- Portland
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Stockholm
- Store on Tour
- Sydney
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Wellington
- All
- Animals
- Art
- Artist Series
- Australia
- Awesome
- Beauty
- Bonjour Girl
- Books
- Classics
- Collect
- Comedy
- Competition
- Cork Grips
- Craft
- Design
- DIY
- Eat
- Europe
- Events
- Farewell
- Fashion
- Film
- Flair
- Flickr Favorites
- FreeYrRadio
- Gaming
- Give
- Gnarlitude
- Graceland
- Green
- History
- Holiday
- Home
- Illustration
- Interviews
- Itwasalwaysallforyou
- Jennilee
- Jewelry
- Learn
- Levi's
- Local Natives
- Lomography
- Love
- LSTN
- Magazines
- Maggie Lee
- Magic
- Music
- Music Mondays
- Nylon
- Performance
- Photography
- Product
- Prom
- Psychology
- Renewal
- Secret Generator Series
- Sexy
- Shoe Club
- Show & Tell
- SICK London
- Space 15 Twenty
- Sport
- Surf
- Tech
- Transport
- Travel
- Trend
- Tumblr Tuesdays
- TV
- UO TV
- Urban Outfitters
- Video
Music: "Bummer Summer" by PO PO. Find on iTunes.
UO Summer Dresses 2012
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen and into our 2012 summer dress collection—these dresses will keep you cool even on the hottest of nights.
Making Time RADio on NPR
Wondering what you were going to listen to ALL DAY (After you've downloaded Music Mondays, of course)? Well, Dave P. put together a massive 24 Making Time RADio playlist for NPR's The Mix. So, there's your answer!
Flickr Favorites: May 11
"We turn not older with years, but newer every day." -Emily Dickinson
Tumblr Tuesdays: May 8
Tie-Dye DIY: Techniques
Now that we've covered the basics, try out these fun tie-dye techniques that will have you mastering the craft in no time! Here, Stevie and Allegra from our women's design team explain how to do the spiral, the bunch, the accordion, and dip-dyeing.
The Spiral
"Spirals are easiest to create on anything that has a large surface area like T-shirts or pillow cases or sheets! Start by pinching the middle of the shirt, or at the side (wherever you want the center of the spiral to be) and continue twisting until it’s a big swirl.
Wrap around the rubber bands tight—tight enough so that the fabric is in a good tight bunch. Try not to loose the swirl/spiral shape when adding the bands. Add as many rubber bands as you wish. The tighter the bands the more white will show and the looser the bands the more dye will saturate the fabric.
From there, follow the steps from our first how-to guide and voilà!
The Bunch
This design really has no rules! Just start bunching up the fabric in any which way, and add the rubber bands. We chose a two pairs of BDG denim cut offs for this one! Remember: the more rubber bands the more the dye will resist. For the white pair we added a lot so that the white of the denim will show up more in the final product.
The Accordion
This design can either make horizontal or vertical stripes. We chose a cute pair of white jeans to start for a horizontal line effect. Start by pleating the fabric from the base of the pant to the top. You can either do both legs at the same time or each separately to have a different design on each side!
Dip-Dyeing
Something like dip dyeing is a cool base coat for your garments, and super easy. Just dip a portion of your chosen item in dye and let it dry.
If you want an ombre affect, try dipping the garment really quick as a whole, then pinning with clothes pins to your bucket or bin and let the bottoms soaking for a good 20-30 minutes to really saturate the ends.
If you make some mistakes, don't worry. Tie-dye is very forgiving—although you cannot undo any mistakes, you can always keep adding! Happy tie-dyeing everyone!"
Flickr Favorites: May 4
"Life I love you, all is groovy."-Simon and Garfunkel
Surf Daze Mix
Want some tunes to go with that tan? Download ten free songs from our Surf Daze Mix featuring DIVE, Real Estate, White Fence and more. Or stream it on UO Radio while you're checking out the rest of our Surf Daze goodness!
Tie-Dye DIY: Indigo Dye
We asked Ashley and Cathleen from our women's design team to teach us how to tie-dye denim using indigo dyes. Follow along with this simple DIY how-to guide to give your jeans a trippy new look!
Tumblr Tuesdays: May 1
Surf Daze
Behind the scenes of Ryan Kenny's photo shoot in the Australian wild, featuring looks for Tallow, Surf Electric by Bethany Mayer, and Insight.
Tie-Dye DIY: The Basics
If you’re looking for something fun and fresh to do this summer, tie-dye is your answer! We asked Allegra and Stevie from our women's design team to teach us how to tie-dye. Follow this step-by-step DIY project to get the basics on this summer's psychedelic trend!
"Tie-dyeing is really easy. Everyone can do it with just a few, simple materials that can be found at your local art store, and about an hour of your day.
Here's what you'll need:
1. Dye (Either powered dye or basic RIT dyes)
2. Plastic Squeeze bottles (Use them for added technique!)
3. Rubber bands (The rubber bands will resist the dye on the fabric. Also depending on how many things you are dyeing, you will probably want to buy a large bag of rubber bands—usually best to buy the standard size or larger. Try getting thicker and thinner bands for added design!)
4. Rubber gloves (The dye will stain your hands for no more than a couple days, but it's best to just wear them just in case. Also wear clothing you don’t mind getting dye on!)
5. Plastic buckets or bins
6. Scissors
7. Plastic sheeting or garbage bags (Place these on the floor to prevent getting dye everywhere!)
Gather up anything you want to dye. Be sure to check the label to make sure you know what you are dyeing. Most dye, like RIT and iDye will dye almost anything (specifically, iDye is usually for natural fibers like cotton or rayon and iPoly is for polyester and other synthetic fibers).
Step Two
Before you start dyeing, soak the items in water and ring dry. The dye will take better to the clothes if they are wet-out first. You can do this in a sink, bucket or bin. If it is a garment that you have just purchased, it might be a good idea to machine-wash it first with a little detergent. 
Step Three
Mix your dye! If you are using powered dye you can mix up any color you want. Tie-dyeing isn't an exact science, but be sure to read the label of any dye box to make sure you are using around the correct rations of dye and water. Depending on your designs, you can mix the dye to a more saturated stage or make them washed out. Try to do a few bottles with a saturated color and mix a few with more water so they dye to a lighter shade. After reading directions on dye box you will know whether to use cold or hot water.
Time to twist up and rubber band like hell! Our cute friend Poe helped us put on the rubber bands.
Step Five
You're officially ready to start tie-dying! Don't forget to put on those dang gloves! Begin by applying the dye with the squeeze bottles you mixed up in Step Three. Use as many colors as you want! If you have only a few colors of dye, you will probably get a rainbow of colors because the dye will bleed into each other. For the denim shorts, We only used a hot pink and sunshine yellow. The dye mixed into an awesomely unexpected super bright orange!
You can apply the dye in sections, polka dots, stripes—really any way you can possibly think that will be cool! Apply as much dye as you think is necessary. It’s probably best not to completely soak your fabric bundle, but a good amount is necessary. The best part of tie-dyeing is experimenting!
After you’re all dyed out, let your garments soak over night in plastic bags to ensure the dye really sets into the fabric.
If you don’t want your dyes mixing, place each bundle in a separate plastic bag. For instance if you don’t want any dark blue on those cute orange shorts, do not put them in the same bag! Place the bundles in the plastic bags to keep the dye moist on the fabric and dyeing all night long.
This is the best part. Get ready for some magic! After dreaming about your tie-dye all night, undo your plastic bags and rinse your tie-dye bundle under cold water before cutting off rubber bands. You can also rise after you cut off all rubber bands but the dye might bleed into the white areas. If you feel as though there is not enough dye, just add more! Tie it up again and go at it.
After Care
The care and wash rules are very particular to tie-dyed garments. Be super careful not to mix fresh tie-dye with any other clothes in the washing machine! The most important things to remember are as follows:
1. Do not wash with any other clothing for at least one machine wash load. Do a separate load in cold/cold water with a small amount of detergent, and tumble dry right after dyeing.
2. Dye will most likely bleed into the white areas when washed or rinsed after rubber bands are removed.
3. Over time (after several washes) the dye will certainly fade. But the best part of tie-dye is that you can do it anytime, again and again and again, to almost anything!
Happy tie-dyeing everyone!"-Allegra and Stevie
Stay tuned for more DIY tie-dyeing tips from our women's team this week on the blog!
The Summer 2012 Catalog
It's finally here! Watch our video of the Summer 2012 Catalog, shot by photographer Charlie Engman in the Arizona desert, then get ready to beat the heat in all of our fabulous summer styles.
Flickr Favorites: April 27
Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" -Robin Williams
Submit your photos to the UO Flickr pool!
Summer Catalog 2012 Teaser
It's coming...
Ask Our Beauty Buyer: Part 2
Last week you tweeted us your beauty questions, now our beauty buyer Marlyn has your answers!
Marnie: HOW TO GET PERFECT EYEBROWS?!
Marlyn: This is my forte! Comb eyebrows straight up to reveal your natural eyebrow arch. Trim all eyebrow hair that extend more than approximately 1/8 inch above your top eyebrow line. Pluck all hairs that grow below the natural eyebrow arch. Comb hairs back into place. Pluck all hairs that grow above the top eyebrow line. Lay a pencil vertically along the inside of your nose toward your forehead. The point where the pencil hits your eyebrow is where your inner eyebrow should begin. Pluck all hairs that fall inside of this point. Line a pencil up between the outer edge of your nose and the outer edge of your eye. The point where the pencil crosses your eyebrow is where the eyebrow should end. Trim or pluck all hairs that grow beyond this outer point.
Caitlin: how should I change up my beauty routine from winter to summer? #askUO
Marlyn: Here are my tips for fuss-free summer beauty:
1. Beach spray. Everyone loves beach-blown wavy locks.
2. Bronzer adds instant warmth to your face, sweep color on the bridge of your nose, top of your cheekbones and lightly hit the forehead and chin to finish.
3. Lip gloss. I love juicy colors like coral, bright pink, and lilac for summer.
4. Pretty toes. Choose a shade that is unexpected like charcoal gray, or try something fun like ombre toes—a different shade on each one!
5. Body Art. Summer is the time to show some skin, why not decorate it? Use traditional henna patterns or create your own!
See Part 1 here and read more beauty tips on our Twitter @UrbanOutfitters!
Ask Our Beauty Buyer: Part 1
Last week you tweeted us your beauty questions, now our beauty buyer Marlyn has your answers!
Maryln: Growing out your hair can suck, but think of it as an opportunity to try new things with your hair. When bangs start to grow and get in your eyes, shift them to one side—you can use a mini flat iron to get them to go in the direction you choose. Another great trick is a small twist or braid to one side. Start with your bangs and add a section of longer hair to blend into the twist. Pin above the ear with a cute barrette. As far as your ends go, adding a wavy or curl at the bottom hides dry or split ends. Use two large hot rollers (one for each side of the hair) to create a quick curl without looking like Shirley Temple.
Sara: What is best strategy when applying bold lip colors like coral & fushia? lip liner before/after stick? I was never taught!
Marlyn: Before is best, it gives you a shape to fill in. To keep color in place use concealer around the perimeter of your lips. To go one step further, blot lips with a tissues and then dust translucent powder over the tissue to hold color in place. Now you're ready to try out some bold lips, like these shades by PAUL & JOE.
Beauty Tip: The Hair Bow
Put your hair in a ponytail on top of your head. (To get it in the right position flip your head upside down and brush the hair from root to tip to get it smooth and in the right direction.) Once you have the pony split it into two even sections. Bend the left section into a loop and pin on the ends on the back right side, do the same on with the other section in the opposite direction. Tuck any unruly pieces under the loops. That’s it! Easy. For an even easier way, try a clip-on hair bow like this one by Hershesons. This look is great for a night out or for prom!
See more beauty tips on our Twitter @UrbanOutfitters!
